Android Apps for Bilingual Children

Screen shots from Toddler Spanish: My First Words

I love technology!  Not only is it fun to use, but my students love when I use it in the classroom.  Whenever, I assign a project, I try to incorporate technology since it engages and stimulates the students.  Learning Spanish becomes more meaningful and exciting in the lives of young people when modern technology is incorporated into a lesson.

Recently I have discovered that this same phenomenon occurs with my own sons.  Inspired by Ana’s posts on the educational apps on the iPhone, I found apps for my android phone that my young children love to play.  Since these apps also use Spanish, they really support my efforts at raising bilingual children.

Toddler Spanish:  My First Words {$.99 Introductory Price}

This app is fun, and features simple navigation with arrows and flick gestures.  Even my baby at a year and a half has figured out how to use it.  Children are introduced to words and images completely in Spanish.  There are a hundred different vocabulary words, and all are accompanied by a beautiful picture.  The diverse vocabulary selection includes everyday images and pictures that appeal to toddlers such as animals.  Your child can use this app on their own, or you and your child can go over the images and vocabulary together.

Alfabeto Flash Cards for Kids {Free}

My three year old had learned most of his letters, but he was still mixing up M and W and forgetting X, B, and V.  No matter how many times we reviewed the letters, he would still get them wrong.  This app helped him to learn the rest of his letters, and it further reinforced the letters that he did know.  Children can scroll through the letters in alphabetical order or tap the die icon to randomly display the letters.  I love that the letters display both the capital and lower case letters.  The letters are also pronounced in Spanish.  By touching the corner of the flashcard, it is possible to flip the card to hear and see a picture of an object that starts with that letter.  For example, your child will hear and see the letter A, and can flip the card to read and hear the word abeja on the back of the card.

eFlash Spanish {Free}

This app is the favorite of my three year old.  It has so many different categories for him to choose from—the alphabet, parts of the body, colors, animals, clothing, and food.  The app prompts the child to select an image from a group of four.  I love that all prompts and suggestions are in Spanish.  There are over 450 words making this app a wonderful vocabulary building game.

Kids Numbers and Math {$2.99}

I started out with the lite version of this app since it was free, but liked it so much that I bought the deluxe version.  This app includes various activities for helping students learn numbers, addition, and subtraction.  The games are great and this app can be used from very young children to older children who are learning how to calculate simple mathematical equations.  The language option enables you to hear the numbers in French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Russian.  Unfortunately, I was disappointed to find that only the numbers are spoken in the other languages.  Overall, I am satifisfied with the app.  The games are good for learning, and my one year old absolutely loves the shake feature.  The sounds the phone makes when he shakes it is guaranteed to have him laughing with delight.

I have really enjoyed using educational apps with my children.  When I need a couple minutes to take a quick phone call or finish making dinner, my boys are happy to play on their own.  We have also had a lot of fun playing some of the games together.  Apps on my phone have been a fun way for us to interact in and learn Spanish.  I have found that technology can go a long way in supporting my children’s bilingual life.